Charles XIV of Sweden

Charles XIV of Sweden (26 January 1763-8 March 1844), earlier known as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, was the King of Sweden and a Marshal of France under Napoleon Bonaparte. Due to his role as Crown Prince of Sweden he was responsible for managing a kingdom separate from the French Empire and reluctantly decided to betray Napoleon. He fought and defeated him at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, and became king from 1818 to 1844.

Biography
Bernadotte was from Pau in Bearn, on the Spanish border with France. In 1780 he enlisted in the French marines, and his eminent military qualities brought him great promotion with the French Revolution of 1792. After the Battle of Fleurus he became a division commander and fought in the Rhineland. In 1798 he was Minister of War for the First French Republic but assisted Napoleon Bonaparte's coup in 1799. In 1805, under the French Empire, he served as Governor of Hanover and fought at the Battle of Ulm and the Battle of Austerlitz. After the Battle of Wagram in 1809 he learned that Sweden, whose soldiers had loved him for his compassion for their prisoners, had elected him Crown Prince for the childless Charles XIII of Sweden. By 1810 Crown Prince "Charles John" was nothing but a mere puppet of Napoleon.

In 1813, taking responsibility for his country and not his origins, he joined the coalition against the French Empire. He fought at the Battle of Leipzig against his former master and defeated Norway in 1814, entering Sweden and Norway into a union.

In 1818, Bernadotte became King of Sweden, converting to Catholicism instead of Lutheran Protestantism. He never spoke Swedish or Norwegian, but the aristocracy all spoke French well. In 1844 he suffered a stroke and died, and Oscar I became king.